MCA plan Platinum jubilee ODI

The Mumbai Cricket Association has been given permission by the BCCI to host a special One-Day International to mark its Platinum Jubilee celebrations which began on Friday.

"The BCCI have approved a special match, a One-Day International, as part of our Platinum Jubilee celebrations," MCA President Sharad Pawar announced at a press conference to give details of celebrations, in Mumbai.

MCA's treasurer and BCCI's executive secretary-in-charge, Ratnakar Shetty, said it was upto the MCA to decide when and against whom the ODI would be organised in Mumbai.

"The Sri Lankans are completing their Test series against India on December 22 and the Indian squad is scheduled to leave for Pakistan on January 6, 2006. We are trying to squeeze in an ODI between the two teams during this gap," Shetty explained.

"The Board had given us the permission to go ahead and hold a Platinum Jubilee ODI at its Working Committee meeting on Februay 2," he said.

Apart from the ODI the MCA also plans to have a series of 30-30 games between Mumbai and a Rest of the World squad as part of its celebrations while trying to involve the common cricket fan in Mumbai to partake of the cricket festival.

"The 30-30 matches, instead of 20-20 common now in England and some other countries, are more suitable to Asian countries," said Harish Thawani of Nimbus Sport, who are the marketing partners of MCA for the celebrations.